As I See It - Main Page

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also.

None the less, my household took advantage of “trash day” yesterday. We hauled off an entire 16 foot trailer load of what was once precious stuff, but now had turned into trash to the landfill. As we were sitting in line waiting to dump, just to pass the time, I started noticing what others had loaded onto their trailers. There were old hot tubs, washers and dryers,

ice boxes,children’s toys and the like. I even noticed a boat in the back of one trailer. As I was considering everyone’s load, Yahweh began to speak to my spirit about priorities. I realized that most of the items to be dumped in the landfill once represented people’s hopes and dreams. In short, they represented what was once their priority, and now the final resting place for those priorities was the landfill. I considered the irony. What once represented someone’s priority, their hopes and dreams, was now trash. I looked again at the hot tubs and the boat and remembered when I once had those same hopes and dreams. I remembered when I once thought, “if I only had a hot tub”, and, “if I only had a boat, I could catch more fish”. I knew the priorities that those objects represented, and now they were only trash. Isn’t it funny what we think is sooooooooooo important at any given time. I mean we work all week to earn a pay check, and save our money to buy some item of importance to us, and then one day, it winds up loaded on some trailer destined for the landfill. What’s wrong with this picture? Do we live in such a disposable society? Are our priorities so temporary and shallow?

The answer to these questions is obviously and emphatically, YES. We spend our time, and our hard earned money on things that will not last. We can’t wait to buy it, and then we can’t haul it off fast enough. It makes no sense.

In other words, we, as believers, need to set our sights on Kingdom issues rather than earthly “stuff”. Why do I need a hot tub, or even a boat? Does it make me more successful in Yahweh’s eyes? Does it make me more spiritual?

Will those things make me happy? Again the answer is obvious, NO! This is how it works. If I got a hot tub, I would be happy for awhile, then the need of it would fade, and I would need to get something else, then that would fade, and the cycle would continue, until one day I would be sitting in line waiting to dump at the landfill. Friends that’s all about the flesh. When we are motivated by the kingdom we should not care what the Jones’s have, and our priorities should reflect aspects of Yahweh’s Kingdom, not man’s.

Please understand, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have “stuff”, or that it is wrong to save your money to buy “stuff”. What I am saying, is that if our “stuff” becomes our priority, then we have a problem. The next time you have to buy that certain thing, stop for a moment and try to envision it loaded on a trailer, headed for the landfill. That vision will undoubtedly put things into perspective for you. I work hard for my money, and I now realize that what I consider to be important today will be the trash of my tomorrows.

Shalom Chavarim

Tom Blair